Tales of Link and Learn
Communications
5 November 2026
By Abdulmalik Yahya (The Punsmith)
If there’s a way I’ll tell the tales of Link and Learn,
I will start from the wow
of widely narrow roads that take two bouncing nganyas.
From Tanzania to Denmark,
From Kenya to Poland,
From Naija to the world,
From left wheel to right wheel,
solution pathways paved ways
for a future so divine,
primed with the vision of a million bulbs.
Of life
of life,
nature met me with melting drizzles,
cold mornings and cloudy skies,
while Nairobi woke to another beautiful chaos.
Matatus painted in colours,
horns composing their own symphonies,
traffic testing the patience of saints,
and strangers making strangers feel at home.
Karibu, karibu!
The warmth of a greeting,
the taste of ugali,
the stories served with every meal.
And somewhere between the streets and the sessions,
between unfamiliar accents and familiar dreams,
I found pieces of home in distant places.
I missed the opening,
for Nairobi welcomed me that morning,
but perhaps I arrived just in time
for the conversations that mattered.
The bilaterals,
where grantees sat across from grantees,
exchanging more than project experiences.
We shared our struggles,
our little victories,
the lessons hidden in our failures,
and possibilities waiting to be explored.
From one table to another,
I learnt that no one holds all the answers.
That Africa has much to offer,
and much to learn.
That Europe, too, has stories worth sharing.
And that collaboration is not merely
the joining of hands,
but the willingness to understand
what the other hand has carried.
We spoke of solutions,
of pathways and possibilities,
of young people whose ideas deserve a place
where decisions are made.
Of communities that must not just be heard,
but seen in the policies that shape their lives.
Different lands, different tongues,
different wheels turning on different roads,
yet the same hopes kept finding their way
into our conversations.
Perhaps this is what Link and Learn means:
to link our little lights
until the darkness has nowhere to hide;
to learn that borders may divide our maps,
but must never limit our minds.
And when the rain finally settles,
when the nganyas find their final stops,
when familiar faces become distant memories,
I will carry more than photographs
and souvenirs from Nairobi.
I will carry the laughter,
the lessons, the friendships,
the warmth of strangers turned to companions,
and the beautiful thought
that somewhere beyond our borders,
someone is working towards the same tomorrow.
Asante, Nairobi.
Asante, my fellow dreamers.
If there’s a way I’ll tell the tales of Link and Learn,
I will begin with the wow,
but I may never find the words
to tell just how much I learnt.
